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tv   MSNBC Live  MSNBC  September 14, 2012 8:00am-9:00am PDT

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that has sparked outrage in the middle east. and mohamed morsi has called off a day of protests, and has he made the strongest call for the m muslim brotherhood who said they would form a human chain to protect those inside. and to egypt where an attack has been made on the american consulate in benghazi and now on the ground investigating the murders of two diplomats including ambassador chris steven stevens and two former navy s.e.a.l.s who died trying to protect the consulate survivors. and here in the u.s., the white house is not backing down from the critique of president obama unlike mitt romney. >> i said that the statement was inappropriate, and that is why they backed away from it. >> and no direct response to when the president says you shoot first and aim litter. >> well, this is politics.
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>> and as he attacks his own party and some are questioning the wisdomf of the assault and the foreign policy advisers. >> it is amateur, and if e had not embarrassed himself and ernl internally the campaign understands he screwed up. >> whoever is advising mitt romney, and whoever is running this campaign is a disaster. >> all of this as a new nbc news/marist/"wall street journal" poll is showing that things are heating up in the race for the white house. but first, what is taking place in the middle east, and jim maceda is following the events there in cairo. jim, explain what we have seen and if not, are the calling for calm working for what we are witness ing on t witnessing on the ground? >> hi, tom thomas. well, start here in cairo, because it is a tale of two protests you might call it. near the u.s. embassy throughout the day, younger and more hard
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core protesters are throwing stones at riot police who have blocked off access to tem bas si with a wall of concrete blocks and more tear canisters and water canisters used against the protesters as well. then on the other hand, you have muslim brotherhood groups who are quite peaceful and chanting god is greatest and marching around the square and they are loud, but peaceful. they are men, women and children, and it has been like that all afternoon. so that the violence has been taking place in a bubble, if you will, while most people, and most egyptians do seem to be following president morsi's earlier demand that if you are going to demonstrate, make sure you demonstrate peacefully and do not destroy property, but clearly, there are protests and violent ones, thomas, elsewhere in the muslim world, and street battles with protesters and police in tunis, and there is smoke coming from inside of the u.s. embassy grounds there, and
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in yemen, there are protests in sanaa, and today, they were pushed back by police and soldiers and some reportedly using live rounds a. contingent of u.s. marines landed there in sanaa to beef up the security there. and dramatic pictures in sudan, and three protesters have been killed in khartoum today when groups of angry muslims stormed the germanp embassy this time. they tried to reach the british embassy and fail ed, and this time, similar scenes in pakistan and indonesia and bangladesh, and back here in cairo, the protests are noisy and i'm sure you will see they are noisy. >> and jim maceda in cairo. thank you very much. we move on the talk in depth about the situation we are witnessing and few people know more about the region that we are talking about than ambassador dennis ross who is a
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special assistant to president obama and special advisory to secretary of state hillary clinton and special envoy and point man for the peace process of presidents clinton and george h.w. bush. he is now a u.s./middle east diplomat. and you ha-- and you know more about this than anybody we could book to talk about this. and so they point out throughout the muslim world that the demonstrations in 17 countries, and what more can or should the u.s. do in the region to attempt calm? >> well, i think that we have to look at this from a perspective that friday is day of frayi ipr and so not surprising that more people come out of the mosques and affected by the psychology of the moment, and so it is not
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a surprise to see more demonstrations today. secondly, the key is that obviously, we do what it is that we can to beef up the security on our own, but ultimately the security depends on the host government. the governments have to assume the responsibility to provide protection and demonstrate what is their responsibility to provide hospitality and protection for all foreign embassies, and we need to be working as closely as we can with every government to anticipate the contingencies to ask them what they are doing to ensure there is security, and ask them about what they have learned about any possible extremist elements who might try to take advantage of this moment, and in a sense work as closely as we can while putting the onus on this host governments to fulfill their responsibilities. >> sir, what is so disturbing to most americans who are viewing this and as you point out being a day of prayer that the individuals would come out of a day, a holy day of prayer to resort to such violence and
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increased violence and have it spread, so for a lot of americans trying to figure this out, it is of concern especially since in our own country, there is such criticism from the right against the president who said that he hasn't done enough, and that he has been demonstrating a weakness of america as the crisis continues. do you think that critique is fa fair? >> i think it is focused on the wrong issue. there isn't an american answer to this. there is in fact a host government responsibility and there is also responsibility of religious leaders. i mean the fact of the matter is that this is a film that was authorized by no government. this is a film that obviously has offensive content for many muslims, and it is understandable that this is offensive to them, but obviously, it is also something that they should emphasize if there's an issue like this, a fi
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film like this, some content of this sort, and the answer to it is to protest peacefully, and it is not to answer with violence, and the more there's violence, and the more the religious leaders should assume the responsibility to make it clear that in the first place that protests can be appropriate, but it has to be done peacefully, and anyone who engages in violence is actually engaging in anti-islamic behavior, so you look to the host governments and focus on the e religious leaders and quite understandable for an american audience to be appalled by these kinds of scenes, but at the end of the day, the united states didn't do this and the united states is not responsible for it, and those who respond violently have a responsibility to the governments where there is violence, they have a responsibility to deal with it, and demonstrate they are in fact prepare prepared to live up to the obligations they have. >> this is front and center for the campaign happening here between president obama and mitt romney and as we understand it, mitt romney and paul ryan are
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going to be receiving intelligence briefings and their advisers now laying out what a romney presidency would look like, and ambassador, they are saying that he would be tougher on iran and setting a red line and he would tell egypt if they want aid they have to protect american interests and provide more aid to syrian opposition and short of arming them directly like the president. what do you make of that strategy? his foreign policy analysis of what is going on present day? >> well, first of all i would divide it into two different issues. issue one is what are you doing from the broader standpoint vis-a-vis each question that arises. on iran, what is the appropriate approach as it relates to syria, and what is the appropriate approach as it relates to the future relationship with egypt is, and what is the appropriate approach? each of those responses are not going to affect what is happening on the ground today. that is first ft. issue. and first and foremost, when you
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are in a position of shaping national strategy, you frame a large strategy, but deal with the events as they take place. the current set of challenges that we see are a function of a response to this film. so, on a contingency basis and emergency basis, you deal with the local governments and put the onus on them to assume the responsibilities and try to anticipate the con tin genesis and beef up the security you can provide on your own and look to see where there are potential threats and look at them to local religious leaders and all of these are the kinds of steps that you would take in the current situation. that is quite separate. you go ahead to make announ announcements or pronounceabilities vis-a-vis iran, it is not going to affect today, and it can predict the posture of the united states, and that is an issue that should be appropriate in the campaign, but to link the two questions sin ap pro-- questions is
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inappropriate. thank you former ambassador ross. and mitt romney is reacting to a poll that he is less likable as commander in chief. a new nbc news/marist/"wall street journal" poll shows that president obama is leading romney in virginia and ohio and in florida. this is a key battleground states that could affect the election in november. joining me is congressman jim moran who sits in the iraq caucus, and also on the defense submit t subcommitt subcommittee. sir, glad to have you here and the president has closed the gap when it comes to the economy and
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who is best to handle that, but still a majority of the americans don't believe that the country is on the right track. in your estimation, what does that mean for the message of your party and the president going forward? >> i think that we have to be honest, obviously, but these polls reflect a thoughtful electorate, and particularly in the most important three battleground states. the american people understand that, you know, we are not losing 800,000 jobs a month like we were at the end of the bush administration, but that the glass is only half full. the problem is that the romney/ryan team would empty the glass all over again with more bush-type tax cuts forthemsel s themselves and for the rich without regard for the rest of us, and accompanied by bellicose rhetoric with the possibility of another war in the middle east. we need to go forward and the american people understand that, and what the romney ticket at this point is presenting is a
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vision of the past, of the eight years of the bush administration which nobody wants to return to. >> and sir, a striking part of the poll is the number of voters who have made up their minds and they are done. in florida 5% undecided and in your home state the same, 5%, and in ohio, 6%. who does the president gain more comfortable footing with heading into november? so few voters out there left to get, but how does he do it? >> well shgs, i think that he d what he has been doing. presents himself as much retail contact with the voters as possible, but presents himself as genuine. he knows that things are not as good as he wants them to be, but he has a clear vision, and h is willing to stand on his record and tell us exactly what he intends to accomplish for the next few year, and the voters are trying to figure out what mitt romney really stands for
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and who is he? who is the genuine mitt romney? he is coming across as a plastic politician quite frankly, and, i think that they know the president, and they are going to go with somebody they know who is absolutely committed to doing what is right for all of the american people, and that is what they are voting for. and they are voting against going back to the past, the deep bush tax cuts, and more bellicose rhetoric, and this is not the way of the future. the way of the future is investing in our young people in education and research and innovation, and getting our budget balanced and competing effectively in the global economy. >> congressman jim moran, and sir, we will let you get back to work. thank you for your time. >> first, harry and now kate. the duchess of cambridge caught with her top down and the royals are flat out angry over it. and congressman paul ryan, welcomed back to capitol hill by the fellow house republicans and we are expecting him to speak before the value summit this hour. will he get the same hero's
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welcome he got on capitol hill? we will have it for you and if you have a thought on the race, the november '12 race, give us a tweet. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has more of 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+. [ male announcer ] red lobster's endless shrimp is back... but only for a limited time! try as much as you like, any way you like! like parmesan crusted shrimp just $14.99. i'm ryan isabell and i sea food differently. you better believe it. sparkle up your world by sprinkling the stimulating gain fireworks scent booster into your wash along with one of these fine gain detergents. will it do the trick? [ scoffs ] please.
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we cop back, everybody. we are continuing to follow the breaking news and showing you this video a short time ago in jerusalem as anti-american protests burned the american flag. and all of this has protests against the anti-muslim film spread throughout the world after friday prayer. there are protests in 17 d different muslim countries and joining me to talk more about this is journalist and nbc contributor who was born in israel, and also the "time" magazine bobby gosch, and this
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is is going to be for the new issue of "time" that hits the newsstands today. and now, i want to start with the flashpoint of what started all of this, and why do we see the continuation of misinformation spreading that is setting off alarming protests? >> well, obviously, they are well organized, and yes, the movie triggered something, but i think that there was something already going on in this country, and they were organizi organizing. there are groups that organized these protesters in each of these countries in the mosques, and they want to set and to send a political message and not the send it to the u.s. or western countries, but to the governments that they elected. they want to send them a powerful message saying that we lead the streets, and you should obey to us. so when morsi comes out timid and shy about it and sends the police and they don't do their
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job quickly enough, he is actually reacting to his own people. so he is putting appeasement of the public opinion in front of national security issues. i think that what has happened in libya is the least, of course, stevens was killed, and it is very painful to see that, sadly, but i think that a what happened is the reaction of the libyan government was quick, and was very strong. i think that now they will open up a national debate about taking all of the weapon from all of the militia and all of the tribes n. egy tribes. in egypt, it is more dangerous, because we depend on them for treaties and we give them a lot of aid to. and the issue with egypt is what the president will stand up today and how he will manage the angry protesters like this, and mainly become a leader and not a party leader, but a president who speaks to all of the egyptians in the same language. >> and rula makes a great point
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here, bobby, because as we talk about egypt, things have calmed down there because the muslim brotherhood asked them not the demonstrate after friday prayers because we are seeing people coming out after friday prayers and latch og inen ining on to t protests psychologically of what we are seeing, but also to protect foreign embassies and going as far to say, we will create a human chain to protect those inside, and what does that say to president obama when he came out and said they are not an ally nor enemy. >> well, when you get a phone call from the president of the united states, that was a wake-up call from morsi that there was only so much brinkmanship that he could engage in. he is telling his party to call
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this off which feeds into the point that rula is making. this is organized. if you can turn up the temperature and turn it down, it is not random or spontaneous eruption in the street, but this is organization and groups specifically sent out there to make mayhem and these groups can be pulled out just as quickly as pulled in. >> it is one thing i want to point out to everybody and pay attention to the upper left of the screen, because we are going to different flashpoints of video and that is the geography of the different protests we are seeing, because we are pointing out 17 different countries where the people have taken to the streets, and i want people to know the distinction, because we have been covering egypt and libya so much, but now indonesia, and going on to show the video coming out of jerusalem. and rula, you grew up in jerusalem, and are you surprised to see the american flag purned in the streets? >> i -- burned in the street. i am never surprised by these
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things. it takes democracy and education. it took seven years for the last battle in new york town. lit take time. 18 months ago we have dick tas or the and the police use actual actually to protect the regimes and today, the police are the people who are supposed to be in charge of protecting embassies and protecting the nation are confused, because suddenly the people they used to arrest who are the morsis and the muslim brothers are the people running the government. it is a confusing moment. they need to settle and reset all of that. lit take longer, but it is a process. one thing about the revolution is clear, thomas el freedmont that we used to call the tiger, and that tyiiger will never be tamed again by the islamists, and they can eat to beef and nobody can lie to the tiger, because it is out there and it has to find its own way to and show all of us and themselves that if they are capable of
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governing themselves according to the values they were calling for in tahrir square. >> are we asking the right questions of the campaigns? >> yes, i think so. this is a new while this process takes place and while these democracies find the feet and the institutional knowledge and experience of dealing with the public anger and finding the ways to have the pressure released while turning violent and while this process takes time, and it could take years, america will have to deal with this new middle east and this kind of crisis will come back again and again and you and i and we will be sitting around discussing these explosions over the course of several years to come. so whoever is in the white house will need to be able to respond to these kinds of provocations on a quite regular basis. that is one of the many ways that americans need to judge who should be in the white house. >> real fast. >> and not only in the white
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house, but i should say, all political leaders in the west and in america, because, you know, we live in the era where you can see and hear them talking on youtube and twitter and everywhere and even the opposition, and even if you are mitt romney, and a campaigner, you need to be responsible of what you are saying, because it will affect people on the ground and the security of an embassy, and also the militaries that are defending that embassy. >> great conversation, and thank you so much. bobby and rula, appreciate it. so is the third time a charm? fed chairman ben bernanke takes steps to resuscitate the economy and create jobs. wall street likes the news, but will it actually work out? we will dig into that. ally bank. why they're always there to talk. i love you, james. don't you love me? i'm a robot. i know. i know you're a robot! but there's more in you than just circuits and wires!
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welcome back, everybody. i want to get you up to speed on breaking news that we have just into the msnbc newsroom concerning different university
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campuses around the country. first, i want to start with what we are learning out of the university of texas in austin, it is under evacuation right now due tom ka pus orders that they received threats on campus according to the a.p. and saying that a man reportedly placed the bombs all over their campus. they reported it so they are in effect trying to evacuate accordingly. meanwhi meanwhile, in north dakota, they have also received similar bomb threats there. north dakota state university, basically, the ndsu staff is requiring the employees and students to leave the campus. this includes the residence halls they have there on the ndsu's campus and also includes different -- excuse me the residence halls and different academic buildings they have there on campus which includes downtown buildings and agriculture facilities as well. we do expect an 11:45 a.m. news conference coming out of north dakota state concerning the bomb threat that they received there.
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we will keep posted for that and roughly 15 minutes from now. and then as we go back to talking about what is taking place at u.t.-austin, and apparently the call came in at 11:35 this morning where they received a call from a male claiming to have placed the bombs over the campus, and he said that at the time that these would go off in roughly 90 minutes. and now, again, they evacuated the campus buildings and we are going to work to get more information and details on, that and again the two active situations going on in campuses one in north dakota and one in austin. so we ask you the stick with us, and we will get you more details. as we move on now, we will talk about what we are seeing on wall street, because the investors are reacting today from the breathtaking announcement from the federal reserve with plans to buy mortgages and force down the interest rates for possibly years to come. and investors at home are showing love for ben bernanke's aggressive plan, and showing it
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ove overseas as well. and steve liesman joins us. what does this stimulus include and why does wall street and those overseas love it so much? >> well, thomas, it is ridiculously pedestrian with what you are talking about is going on, but what i can report is that economists are calling it historic and breathtaking as you said and what the fed is going to do to buy $40 billion of mortgages a month and try to drive down people's mortgage rates and right now 3.50%, and the question is how much lower can they go and keep the foot on the accelerator of the economy until the unemployment rate goes down, and every time they say buy a certain amount of miles and bonds in the prior qes and then stop at a certain date or certain amount. now they are saying that the foot is on the accelerator until we get results in the economy and as you said wall street was surprised by how aggressive the federal reserve was yesterday and that surprise is carrying over into the markets the i da. there is a sense that this may
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do some good and ignite the u.s. economy. >> as we talk about the political calculations that go into all of this? >> well, you know, i think that the federal reserve has said all along, it is not taking that into account, and doing what it thinks is right for the economy and began telegraphing the moves in june, and what has happened is that republicans have criticized it for less interference in the economy and the democrats seem to be mostly in favor of it, and if fed chairman ben bernanke is drawing from the academic theory that if we tell you that we will stay low for that long, it may have an impact on the economy and that is what he is drawing on less than the politics of it. >> and what is the other card in the hat, you know, the other trick up the sleeve if it does not have the impact they are look g fing for this is. >> well, the trick is more of the same, thomas. what they are saying that will go beyond just mortgages and we could buy treasure ris as they have buying and a hint at assets a well and maybe tolerate more
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inflation, and say that the inflation were to tick up while the fed were doing this, and they may say, we will keep the foot on the accelerator and whereas normally, they would have taken it off. and cnbc's steve liesman in washington. appreciate it. >> okay. just after the half hour and much more on the breaking news developments coming to us out of the middle east. it appears that egypt's president and the muslim brotherhood are holding off protesters trying to get close to the u.s. embassy in cairo, but it is not keeping people off of the streets. riot police as we have been watching for days now in cairo have been clashing with the p protesters who are angry over the original thoughts of the anti-islamic film produced here in the u.s. and cairo is one of the cities where it has gathered now and spanning 17 different countries and including brand new demonstrations, and this has coincided with the pope's three-day visit to lebanon
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trying to spread a message of peace after the arab spring, and despite the attacks, they tore down signs welcoming the pope. and back home, nakoula basseley nakoula, the home is being guarded. and neighbors describe him. >> sometimes he would wear a robe that an arab family might wear. >> i feel so uncomfortable, but i never see that guy. he comes in and comes out and i never see him. >> and joining me now is roger cressey, former terrorism analyst, and michael isikoff, national correspondent, and first, news about the filmmaker,
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and we have learned more about the history and that being one of a criminal past and what have you been able to uncover? >> well, bizarre is the right word for this whole situation. if you remember the initial reports after the attacks on the embassies were that the film in question was made be by an israeli filmmaker named sam bacile, and the problem is that there was no record of sam bacile has been found, and we know that this individual nakoula basseley nakoula has acknowledgeded that he was the manager of the company that made the film. he denies that he is sam bacile, but he has a long criminal record going back to the late 1990s when he was arrested on drug charge, methamphetamine charges and sentenced twice for prison and filed twice for bankruptcy and then rearrested on federal identity theft for bilking wells fargo bank in which he was alleged to have
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used multiple aliases and variations of baselle, and that is close to the name of the filmmaker here. it is not clear whether nakoula basseley nakoula is the sam bacile in question, but the federal law enforcement officials are looking into that, because as part of the conviction of the identity theft case just three years ago, there was a five-year probation on banning him from using, and banning him from using the internet without the approval of his federal probation officer, and of course, sam bacile, the filmmaker who made this film did have a youtube posting under that name in which the trailer appeared and that is what seems to have been the trailer that triggered the riots. >> roger, i want to bring you into the conversation now, and because we have talked about the film and i have seen parts of it, but it is a low budget and badly script and badly acted type of film.
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how in your estimation are enemies able to use videos like this so easily to create the mayhem that we are seeing now throughout 17 countries and really naive of us back here in america to think that this film could cause this? >> well, calling this a film is an insult to the filmmaking industry, and folks who have not traveled to the middle east don't understand how significant it is to say anything derogatory about the prophet mohammed. and the middle east is con s conservative region and conservative societies and any reference like that can be useded by a number of groups and individuals to just play on emotional and religious values, and then just spring out some serious demonstrations. we have seen nit in the past wih a number of different instances and not just american, but also european and other where the prophet mohammed is described in a derogatory way, and people
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will go to the mat in response to that. so we have to understand that, the culture and the value system in the arab world places the prophet muhammad in a much more exalted position than where we might talk about religion in this country. it is very different. >> gentlemen, thank you to both of you. we have the cut this short, because we are going the check in with paul ryan who is speaking at the voters value summit as i understand it right before ryan was to take to the stage, some protesters were escorted out. let's listen in. >> in this election, millions of americans count themselves as values voter. i'm a values voter, too. in 53 days, we have a choice between two very different ideas about our country. how we were meant to live and what we were meant to be.
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it is the kind of choice that can never be taken for granted. peace, freedom and civilized values have enemies in this world. as we have been reminded by events in egypt, libya and yemen, and we have all seen the images of our flag being burned, and our enemies under attack by vicious mobs. the worst of it is the loss of four good men. including our ambassador to libya. they were there for the most peaceful purposes in service to our country. and today, our country honors their lives and grieves with theirm fa lis. -- their families. all of us are watching the events closely, but we know who america is dealing with in these attacks. they are extremists who operate
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by violence and intimidation, and the least equivocation or mixed signal only makes them bolder. look across that region today and what do we see in slaughter of brave dissidents in syria, and mobs storming embassies and consulates and iran four years closer to gaining a nuclear w weapon, and israel our best ally in the region treated with indifference bordering on contempt by the obama administration. amid all of the threats and dangers what we do not see is steady, consistent american leadership. in the days ahead, and in the years ahead, american foreign policy needs moral clarity and firmness of purpose.
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[ applause ] only by the confident exercise of american influence are evil and violence overcome. that is how we keep the problems abroad from becoming crises, and that is what keeps the peace, and that is what we will have in a romney/ryan administration. in the all important election of 2012 values voters are also economic voters. this election will hold the incumbent accountable for the economic failures and affirm the pro growth agenda of mitt romney. it is true that president obama, and he had a lot of problems not of his own making, but he also came in with one party-rule, and the chance to do everything of his own choosing.
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the obama economic agenda failed not because it was stopped, but because it was passed. that's a key distinction. here's what we got. prolonged joblessness across the country. 23 million americans struggling to find work. family income in decline. 15% of americans living in poverty. the record is so uniformly bad that maybe you have noticed something, president obama, himself, almost never even uses the word record. that is except when he is trying to trade on the record of bill clinton. in his convention speech, the president never said that simple word, record. he didn't say the other word
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stimulus either. because he wasted $831 billion of borrowed money. at a time of mass unemployment, he didn't even say unemployment. because we are in this slowest recovery since the great depression, and by the way, he didn't even use the word recovery either. nevermind that recovery was what all of america expected are the barack obama. you see, he wants us to forget all of these things and lately, he has been trying out a new tactic, and it is a classic barack obama strawman. if anyone dares to point out the facts of his record, why then, they are just being negative and pessimistic about the country. the new strawman is people hoping for the decline of america. you know, it is pretty sad, but this is theest that president obama can come these days to sounding positive himself.
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but we have to face up to all of what has gone wrong in the last four years so that the next four years can be better. ladies and gentlemen, we cannot afford the make economic failure a two-term proposition. >> i want to go to the white house where jay carney is taking questions over libya. >> i explained last week that it is obviously a complex piece of business and that we would have it by the end of this week, and we are releasing it in later today. >> yes. jay, as you know the unrest in the middle east is spreading to other u.s. embassies and the president's critics are calling it an indictment of the handling of the arab spring, and giving rise of further inflame to islamists and what do you say to that? >> well, let me say a couple of things. we are closely monitoring the developments in the region troday. you saw that in following the incidents in response to the
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video the president directed the administration to take a number of steps to prepare for continued unrest and i noted yesterday in my gaggle that fridays have tended to be days when protests are larger in the muslim world, and we were anticipating that. when it comes to criticism, i would note that many observers, and commentators and foreign policy experts and elected officials both republicans and democrats have point oed out in particular that the criticism of governor romney and the team in what seems to be and attempt t score a political point has been both factually wrong and poorly timed. now is a time when americans should be coming together. the president is attending a ceremony this afternoon for the return of remains of four u.s.
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personnel who were killed in libya as a result of this unrest. and his focus is on insuring that u.s. personnel and our facilities are protect ed. that is why he directed his administration to ensure that security would be enhanced around the world at our diplomatic facilities. he has, as you know, because we have read out the phone calls had numerous conversations with the leaders in the region including the presidents of egypt and libya and sent a personal message to leader of turkey, prime minister erdoan, and he has done that and the president is appreciative tiff of the statements and the actions that the leaders have taken personally.
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president morsi yesterday and today again has spoken out against any violence and committed himself to protecting the u.s. diplomatic facilities and personnel in egyptment we also ne to understand that this is a fairly volatile situation and it is in response not to united states policy, and not to obviously the administration tor american peop -- or the american people, but it is in response to a video, a film that we have judged to be be reprehensible and disgusting. that is in no way justifies any violent reaction to it, but this is not a case of protests directed at the united states at large or at u.s. policy, but it is in response to video that is offensive and to muslims. again, this is not in any way
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justifying violence, and we have spoken very clearly out against that and condemned it. and the president is making sure in his conversations with leaders around the region that they are committed as hosts to diplomatic facilities to protect both personnel and buildings and other facilities that are part of the u.s. representation in those countries. >> can i follow up on the sequestration as well. congress was pointing to the fact that the report you could release today could spotlight the loss of numerous jobs and many of them in defense and criticizing the administration for allowing that to potentially happening and potentially weakening u.s. national security as a result. what is your response to that? >> i think that it is important to step back and look at what the sequester is. the sequester was put into place
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as part of the budget control act in order to compel congress to do its job. i want to take you back to the values voter speech of paul rye ian where the protesters are now being taken out of the talk. we wanted to break out of jay carney's remarks real fast to take you back to this. let's listen in. >> and we all know this, no politician is more skilled as striking heroic poses against imaginary adversaries and nobody is better at rebuking non-existent opinions, and barack obama does this all of the time, and in this campaign, we are going to call him on it. [ applause ] the president has given lectures to all that we owe to government
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as if anyone who opposes the reckless expansion of federal power is guilty of rank individualism, and he treats enterprise as little more than a revenue source of government. he has used government as the redistributor and al locator of opportunity. well, the results are in for that, too. here we are four years of economic spewwardship under these self-proclaimed advocates of the poor, and what do they have to show for it? more people in poverty and less upward mobility wherever you look. after four years of dividing people up with the bogus rhetoric of class warfare, and just about every segment of society is worse off. to see all of this played out in any country would be bad enough, but to see it becoming the daily experience of life in the united states is utterly contrary to everything that we are entitled to expect. mitt romney knows that this
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country and all of the millions who are waiting for their working lives to begin again were made for better things. to borrow the words of another mentor of mine jack kemp -- kem had to do that for dr. bennett -- mitt and i understand, that no government in history has been able to do for people what they have been able to do for themselves when they were free to follow their hopes and their dreams. under the current president, we are at risk of becoming a poor country. because he looks to government as the great benefactor in every life. our opponents even have a new motto, they say, quote, government is the only thing that we all belong to.
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i don't know about you, but i've never thought of government as something that i belong to. as a matter of fact, on the sear seven occasions i've been sworn in as a member of congress i've never take an oath to the government. the oath is all of us take is to support and defend the constitution under the united states under which government is limited and the people are sovereign. that's what we do. that's who we are. in the experience of real life,
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the most important things we belong to, they have a very different hold on us. i'm a catholic. not because anyone has ordered me to accept a creed, but because of the grace and truth revealed in my faith. and that's how we all feel about the faiths we hold. in a same way, we americans give ourselves to every kind of good cause. we do this for the simple reason, that our hearts and conscience have called us to work what needs doing, to fill a place sometimes no one else can fill. like that with our families and communities too. the whole life of this nation is carried forward every day by the endless unselfish things people do for one another without giving it much thought. in books, they call this civil society. in my own experience, i know it as janesville, wisconsin.
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janesville is a place like 10,000 others, where a lot of good happens without government commands it, wrecking it or claiming credit for it. that's how life is supposed to work in a free country. and nothing undermines the essential and honorable work of government more than the abuse of government power. the president's telling, government is a big benevolent presence, gently guiding our steps at every turn. in reality, when government enters the picture, private institutions are so often brushed aside with suspicion or even contempt. this is what happened to the catholic church and catholic charities this past january when the new mandates of obama care started coming. never mind your own conscience,
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they were basically told and from now on, you're going to do things the government's way. ladies and gentlemen, you would be hard pressed to find another group in america that does more to serve the health of women and their babies than the catholic church and catholic charities. and now, suddenly, we have obama care bureaucrats presuming to dictate how they're going to do it. as governor romney has said, this mandate is not a threat in insult to one religious group, it is a threat, insult to every religious group. he and i are honored to stand with you, people of faith and concerned citizens, in defense of our religious liberty. and i can assure you, when mitt
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romney is elected, we will get to work on day one to repeal that mandate and all of obama care. that is a fact. finally, when he tries to make big government sound reasonable and inclusive, the president likes to say we're all in this together and here, too, he has another handy straw man. anyone who questions the wisdom of his policies must be lacking in compassion. who else would question him, but those mean people who think that everybody has to go it alone and fend for themselves. we're all in this together. it has a nice ring.
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for everyone who loves this country, it's not only true but obvious. yet, how hollow it sounds coming from a politician who has never once lifted a hand to defend the most helpless and innocent of all human beings, the child waiting to be born. giving up any further pretense of moderation on this issue and in complete disregard for millions of pro life democrats, president obama has chosen to pander to the most extreme elements of his party. in the clinton years, the stated goal was to make abortion safe, legal and rare.
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but that was a different time and a different president. now apparently the obama/biden ticket stands for an absolute unqualified right to abortion at any time, under any circumstance and even at taxpayer expense. when you get past all of the president's straw men, what we believe is plain to state, these vital questions should be decided not by the caprice of unelected judges but by the conscience of the people and their elected representatives. and in this good-hearted country, we believe in showing compassion for mother and child alike. we don't write anyone off in america.
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especially those without a voice. every child has a place and purpose in this world. everyone counts. and in a just society, the law should stand on the side of life. so much of our history has been a constriving to live up to the ideals of our foundings, rights and their ultimate source. at our opponent's convention a rudy dispute broke out over the mention of that source. for most of us, it was settled long ago. that our rights come from nature and nature's god, not from government.
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very clear. that's the american idea. a disregard for rights, a growing government in a static economy, a country where everything is free but us. this is where it is all tending. this is where we are being taken by the present administration. this is the road we are on. but my friends, that road has an exit just ahead and it is marked tuesday, november 6th, 2012. we can be confident in the rightness of our cause and also in the integrity and readiness of the man who leads it. he is a solid and trust worthy, faithful and honorable man. not only a